Hearing Set in Ross Brothers Appeal of Fine for Lawn Decorations & Toys

As promised, Robert and William Ansell have appealed Squirrel Hill magistrate Hugh McGough $1,250 fine, imposed in May, for not fully complying with his order to remove offensive signs, lawn debris, seasonal displays at garbage from their property at 109 Fairley Road in Ross Township.

The judge had threatened the brothers with a $3,000 fine but reduced the fine because the offensive signs had been removed. 

An appeal hearing is scheduled at 8 a.m. on Aug. 20, before Allegheny County Common Pleas Court Judge Robert Gallo, according to court records.

Robert owns the home in which his brother, William, resides. 

Disputes among neighbors on Fairley Road have existed since at least 2005, when William Ansell erected an elaborate Christmas light display in his yard.

Robert Ansell accuses the township of shutting it down.

“It raised a lot of money for children’s hospital and Salvation Army, and to see it go this way? This is a township that bullies people,” Robert Ansell told KDKA.

But the township maintained back in 2010 that it never asked Ansell to stop the light show.
 
"We are not prohibiting him from having his annual Christmas lights display. He has had it for a number of years, and we have not ever tried to stop him from having it," former Township Manager Wayne Jones told KDKA TV in 2010. 

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